Makeing a Ice Road?

[Pikeslayer]

Im wondering how I can speed up the forming of thick ice on the way to my favorite spot! I have 8 inchs of good ice,no slush and 10 inchs of snow.Would it do any good to pack the snow down with my snowmobile or do I need to plow the road?The reason Im asking is I want to get my new fishhouse out on the lake and with all this snow,the lake seems like it just quit makeing ice!

[kelly-p]

Removing the snow is best but remember that where you put the snow will increase the weight there cracking the ice and sinking it down. Packing the snow with a snowmobile will really help by reducing the insulating factor of the snow.

[Pikeslayer]

Thanks for the info Kelly-p I kindda thought packing the snow with my sled would work.I just wanted to hear someone elses opinion on it before I went out and drove back and forth on the lake and looked like Im lost or something!

[kelly-p]

Just go out there and pretend to be catching fish. The crowd coming to fish by you will pack it down for you.

[Powerstroke]

Oh so very true. If you owned a couple portables, you could pitch them out there and come back in a couple hours and I bet you would be surrounded.

[Pikeslayer]

How do you PRETEND to catch fish?

[DRP]

A few traps linked together could be a start.... Anyway, I hope the ice starts to thicken up to allow a guy to start exploring. I will be up fishing out of a 4 man Pat Foster sleeper Jan 4-6th. I can hardly wait and have still been managing to chase a few roosters in the meantime.

[Random guy]

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How do you PRETEND to catch fish?

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Its a blast!

Pull up within sight of a small crowd with a pick up and fire up the auger behind the truck so it sounds like you are making a hole. Then re-posistion the truck like you are using it for a wind block so they can see you. Once "fishing" simply bounce your jig on the ice then stand on your jig while making a superman hookset then the fight of your life. Turn your back to the crowd, kneel down then pretend to unhook and realease fish. Do this five or six times in a few minutes and they start circling like geese over decoys. Pull up and go close enough to watch the portable race to your spot and the frantic scurry to find the hole.

Something to do when its a slow day on the ice.

[FISHINGURU]

lol

if you really want to spice things up you can put one of them big fish pillows that actually look like a real fish from a distance and put it in your big jacket....when u bend down to your hole with your back to the crowd u can get it out of your coat and plop it on the ice....pretend to get the hook out and even hold it up giving it a slight shake...bend back down and pretend to release it but just put it back in your coat....if u know what pillows i'm talkin about they look like a nice 10-14 lb walleye lol.

we actually did this trick to one of my buddies that was about 75 yds away...we did the screaming and the chanting...held it up made it look like it was wigglin...pretended we dropped it as he was runnin over full speed to help and to see it.....my buddy bent down and slipped it back into his big coat and we acted like it slipped back into the hole lol...eventually we told him and showed him the dummy fish but man it was funny.

[Pikeslayer]

That sounds like a real HOOT! But how can you find time to do such pranks when theres roads to be plowed,sleepers to move,bridges to be built! and it all has to be done yesterday?

[LABS4ME]

Another great way to lure in the sheeple, is to drill a series of holes in about 5-6' feet of water 50-75 yards off the road. Make a good packed down trail from hole to hole to look like you're hole hopping... Set up a couple lawn chairs for you and your buddy, dump out last nights bucket of crappies and proceed to limit out! Thrown a fish on the pile everytime a truck drives by... make it look real obvious.

Within an hour's time you will have 20-30 people fishing around you. Pick up and leave once they all get settled in. They will stick it out hoping things will pick up. Good yuks in the middle of a slow afternoon.

hehehehe

Good Luck!

Ken

[Pikeslayer]

You guys are BRUTAL! sheeple

[Powerstroke]

By doing so you will also now have your pick of the abandoned holes to hole hop from.

[Random guy]

The classic was to fish all aroung "The Rock" during shallow years. 3' feet on top with 12' edges. Never failed some sheeple would plop right down in the middle of everybody and start drilling...no matter how hard they pushed the auger just wouldn't cut that granite.

[kelly-p]

A few years back I had a house that was crowded to the point that the fishing was ruined. I explained to the two guys that had it rented that if I moved the house the crowd would follow. After talking it over I set up a portable about 1/4 mile away outside of the crowd and the guys took turns fishing in that AND sneaking their fish back into the hardhouse in their beer cooler. As each guy snuck his fish back into the house the other guy would head for the portable to fish and every few minutes the guy with the fish would throw a wet and flopping crappie out the door of the hard house. At the end of the day the two guys had their 30 crappies and the crowd was shoulder to shoulder around the hardhouse. But,,,, the hardhouse hadn't had a bite all day.

[Pikeslayer]

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The classic was to fish all aroung "The Rock" during shallow years. 3' feet on top with 12' edges. Never failed some sheeple would plop right down in the middle of everybody and start drilling...no matter how hard they pushed the auger just wouldn't cut that granite. :gr ------------------- You Guys sound like my DAD!1 jug of 1933 tator juice and evel seeps from your bones,some days I would have to look at my older brother just to see if he was telling me like it really was!!

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[MuskieJunkie]

A stand up High Five and a couple "WOO WHO's" will have 'em flocking to you.

[Mjen]

It can also work in reverse. One year my hard house eventually got surrounded and I was thinking about moving the next morning. At sunset I got into a crappie frenzy that lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Could only fish one stick. I eventually got so sweaty I had to go outside to cool off. Two guys were camped next to my house fishing in the open. I looked over at them and said, "pretty good fishing, isn't it." They said they hadn't caught a thing.

[sparkydm]

Last year I was up in early January when there was 18" of ice and no snow. I drove out to where the "town" was and made a hard left and kept going for about 200 yards and set up my trap. My father and I came off the lake at about 5 pm with a limit of crappies. when we got to the access we were stopped by the creel census woman. She said that was the only limit she had seen so far. She said most people were coming off the lake with no crappies, just walleyes. Get away from the crowds and you will do much better. What I don't understand is why everyone was all crowded up in a cluster when you could drive anywhere you wanted? must be the "sheeple" thing.